by Duke of Monmouth » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:54 pm
I am a big fan of this film - for me its the best kaiju eiga ever made, I loved the strong female characters that carry film, the idea of there being generations of Gamera's that have come and gone, the FX are only ever used as and when needed (and are masterly throughout), the music wonderfully scored and the cliff-hanger ending daring.
The film does hang on another Gamera deus ex machina but I felt it worked and served the mythos that, yes Gamera can pull something out of the hat when needed, but at great cost to itself (a theme explored at the beginning of "Gamera The Brave").
The sight of the weary, battle scarred Gamera stumbling through the burning Kyoto to face an overwhelming horde of Gyaos was moving and conveyed the sacrifice that the Gameras had made over the years.
I love it, it just hit all the spots for me and just showed how lacking Toho's whole output had been for too long.